Streamlining C2 Operations for the U.S. Air Force

You’re piloting an F-35 and zeroing in on a critical target. The airspace is congested and chaotic, with manned and unmanned aircraft flying at all levels. You’re also operating above Army maneuver forces, so you need to be positive that the target is confirmed and not one of your own. Compounding the challenge is the potential of adversaries to conduct electromagnetic warfare and cyber attacks to disrupt your own and others’ sensors, comms links, and systems.

Yet despite the potentially overwhelming complexity, you’re confident you’ll succeed in this high-pressure mission. That’s because it’s being orchestrated by the power of a modern, integrated command and control (C2) system. It securely connects sensors, decision makers, and shooters across the battlespace, regardless of the data’s characteristics or origin. It builds a common operating picture of the airspace and distributes it to those who need it. It employs artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to integrate fires, deconflict the airspace, and improve and accelerate decision making. And it communicates through multiple independent paths and cloud-native networks to evade electromagnetic attacks.

The nation's adversaries are waging a new kind of war with sophisticated capabilities that threaten freedom of action and erode historical overmatch in every operating domain. To counter this threat, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is transforming how it protects vital national interests with its Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) concept. JADC2 aims to connect sensors, weapons, C2 systems, and intelligence data from all military services into a single network to enable faster, better decisions and more effective engagements against adversary threats. It will enable the joint force to converge effects from all five domains—land, sea, air, space, and cyber—and even operate in concert with partners and allies.

For the U.S. Air Force, JADC2 means creating information dominance by delivering relevant information and capabilities to warfighters and operators at all echelons. This goes beyond providing a clear picture of the joint all-domain environment to include reducing decision cycle times and accelerating response.

But legacy Air Force C2 systems need modernized capabilities to present a common multidomain operating picture and support participation in integrated fire control networks. These systems have three challenges:

• Lack of resiliency. The Air Force relies on monolithic legacy C2 systems that are too large and centralized, and too dependent on big servers in operational locations. This makes them vulnerable because a single attack anywhere in the system can be crippling.
• Limited data exploitation and integration capabilities. Like all of DOD, the Air Force is contending with closed, proprietary digital environments that hamper interoperability and integration. Such segregated, vendor-locked systems are a barrier to connecting data networks and tactical platforms across domains to accelerate operational effectiveness.
• Long time to decision. Historically, C2 systems have been designed for a specific set of answers, and disparate systems cannot share data across Air Force platforms or domains. This makes decision making slow and cumbersome, even involving operators making phone calls and using chat windows to coordinate action.

To be sure, the Air Force is making strides in modernizing its C2 systems with its Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) program. The path forward needs to focus on developing and fielding new innovations and capabilities in the areas of cloud, edge connect, and battle management.